Gift Ideas For A Cyclist Who Has Everything (Or A Small Shed)

Need gift ideas for a cyclist? It can be a nightmare to find something for someone who apparently already has everything. Let us help you!

The shed is full. You eat tea on the sofa because the bikes are in the way of the dining table. No amount of regular trips to Ikea can keep up with the drawer needs of pads, gloves, buffs, hats, shorts, liners, jerseys…Thank goodness cycling kit is made of lightweight fabric or you’d have to consider reinforcing the floor under the wardrobe. You’ve moved house, but it seems that bikes and kit are like carp (not a typo) and grow to fill the available space.

You’ve tried to engage your partner/friend/child in other less space consuming hobbies, but that genealogy kit never really sparked and interest, and the ‘Declutter and Simplify Your Way To Enlightenment’ yoga guide is mainly used to balance up the turbo trainer on the wonky garage floor.

Whether it’s a birthday, Christmas or anniversary gift, buying for this person is a nightmare. Equally, buying for the person who has enough cash that they can buy whatever kit they want can be a challenge. But fear not, because here we bring you our top gift guide for the cyclist who has everything except space.

1. Digital Singletrack Subscription

If you can’t bear the thought of a paper copy of our magazine crossing your threshold, we do digital only subscriptions. Our magazine can be read as an interactive digital magazine on a tablet, or as an e-book on a kindle. Print subscribers get access to all of this too, and both print and digital subscribers get access to our Premier Dealers’ discounts and other special offers.

2. A Skills Course

There are always more skills to be learned and improvements to be made. Why not book a skills course as a gift? Many coaches offer gift vouchers too, if you’re not sure just which skills are most in need of work. Not convinced? Read here about Hannah and Vic’s experience of going back to school for the day.

3. A Riding Trip

Book a night away – it doesn’t need to be far away. Even a B&B a couple of hours from home can offer the chance for a big day of riding, followed by a solid pub meal without the drive home, and another day of riding before heading home again. Find somewhere near a trail centre, or plan a couple of big day out loops from your accommodation. Want something to give them to open? Get the Ordnance Survey map for the area, or hand draw your own map showing the route, pub stops, big descents and other points of interest along the way.

4. A Guided Trip

Don’t want to go with them on a riding trip, but don’t want to send them alone? Many natural riding hot spots will have guides who will take the faff out of discovering a new area. Book a guide to show them round the trails without having to get the map out every few minutes, or to give them the confidence to tackle their first big mountain ride. If expense is no object, there are many guided group holidays abroad that will happily take individual bookings.

5. A Bike Wash

If money is tight, give them the promise of a bike wash. You’ll clean their bike after a ride while they soak in the bath. You could even make a book of vouchers to be redeemed throughout the year. No one likes cleaning bikes, and as long as you don’t cover the rotors in GT85 they’ll thank you for saving them the trouble.

6. A Bike Service

Depending on how poorly the bike turns out to be, you might need to be prepared to dig deep in your pockets for this one. But for those who are cash rich and time poor, it’s easy to never quite get round to the jobs that could be done at home. Book their bike into your local bike shop for new cables, a brake bleed, or greasing of bearings.

7. A Suspension Service or Custom Tune

You might be lucky enough to have a local shop that is able to service or tune suspension. If not there are online providers like Singletrack Readers’ Awards nominees TF Tuned that specialise in this. Whether it breathes new life into ailing suspension, or gets the most out of suspension that’s barely been tweaked since it left the shop floor, many riders will feel the benefit of some expert tinkering.

8. A Bike Maintenance Course

Whether it’s the first step towards a new career as a bicycle mechanic, or just the skills needed to be a better home mechanic, a Cytech course could come in handy. A two day Home Mechanic course will cover most of the basics, and costs around £300. Many local bike shops and local authorities also offer introductory bike maintenance courses.

9. A Race Entry

How about an entry to a race, or a series of races? It could be a far flung experience of a lifetime like the Rumble in The Jungle. It could be a single big race to give something to work and train towards. Or how about a whole series of races ?

10. A Donation to World Bicycle Relief

For the ultimate feel good factor, you could make a donation to World Bicycle Relief. This charity aims to give specially design ‘Buffalo Bikes’ to people in rural areas of developing countries, where other forms of transport are not readily available. By being provided with bikes people able to run and grow businesses, access healthcare and education, and deliver essential supplies. It costs just £95 for a single Buffalo Bike – there’s a fair chance that’s less than the shoes you wear to ride in, or not much more than your pedals. Which is more life changing? Donate here.

Not only do these gifts not take up space, they also don’t take much time to organise and don’t need posting. So if you’ve left it rather late then your last minute gift for the cyclist in your life need not be a can on GT85 from your local 24 hour garage. Win!

Still wondering what to give a cyclist? Check out these other material gift ideas from our shop:

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Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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